United States Marine Corps

==Personnel==
{{See also|List of United States Marines|List of historically notable United States Marines}}

===Leadership===
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| caption1 = [[Eric Smith (general)|Eric M. Smith]], <br />Commandant of the Marine Corps
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| caption2 = [[Christopher J. Mahoney]], <br />Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps
| image3 = SMMC Carlos A. Ruiz.jpg
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| caption3 = [[Carlos A. Ruiz]], <br />[[Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps]]
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The [[Commandant of the United States Marine Corps|Commandant of the Marine Corps]] is the highest-ranking officer of the Marine Corps, unless a Marine is either the chairman or vice chairman of the [[Joint Chiefs of Staff]]. The commandant has the [[Title 10 of the United States Code|U.S. Code Title 10]] responsibility to staff, train, and equip the Marine Corps and has no command authority. The commandant is a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and reports to the [[United States Secretary of the Navy|Secretary of the Navy]].<ref>Estes (1986), p. 60</ref>

The [[Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps]] acts as the chief deputy to the commandant. The [[Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps]] is the senior enlisted Marine and acts as an adviser to the commandant. Headquarters Marine Corps comprises the rest of the commandant's counsel and [[staff (military)|staff]], with deputy commandants that oversee various aspects of the Corps assets and capabilities. The 39th and current Commandant is [[Eric Smith (general)|Eric M. Smith]], while the 20th and current Sergeant Major is [[Carlos A. Ruiz]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.hqmc.marines.mil/smmc/Biography/|title=Biography|website=www.hqmc.marines.mil|access-date=15 October 2021|archive-date=16 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210716010153/https://www.hqmc.marines.mil/smmc/Biography/|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Women===
{{main|Women in the United States Marines}}
[[File:Opha Johnson and Katherine Towle in 1946.png|thumb|upright|Sargeant [[Opha May Johnson|Opha Johnson]] (far right) in 1946, with Colonel [[Katherine Towle]] (far left). They are looking at Opha Johnson's uniform being worn by PFC Muriel Albert.]]
[[File:First three female Marines graduate Infantry training course 131121-M-JR212-076.jpg|thumb|Two of the first female graduates of the School of Infantry-East's Infantry Training Battalion course, 2013]]

Women have served in the United States Marine Corps since 1918.<ref>{{cite web |title = Women Marines Association |access-date = 29 July 2017| url = https://www.womenmarines.org/wm-history |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170712001021/https://www.womenmarines.org/wm-history |archive-date = 12 July 2017 |url-status=live |df = dmy-all}}</ref> The first woman to have enlisted was [[Opha May Johnson]] (1878–1955).<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1918-08-14/ed-1/seq-1/|title=Girl Joins Devil Dogs|date=14 August 1918|work=Evening Star|access-date=24 October 2019|archive-date=24 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191024135659/https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1918-08-14/ed-1/seq-1/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2017/09/22/the-first-woman-marine-in-1918-she-couldnt-vote-but-rushed-to-serve/|title=The first woman Marine: In 1918, she couldn't vote but rushed to serve|last=Dvorak|first=Petula|date=22 September 2017|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=24 October 2019|archive-date=30 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190630141407/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2017/09/22/the-first-woman-marine-in-1918-she-couldnt-vote-but-rushed-to-serve/|url-status=live}}</ref> In January 2017, three women joined an infantry battalion at Camp Lejeune. Women had not served as infantry marines prior to this.<ref>{{cite news|last = Tatum |first = Sophie |title = Military welcomes first women infantry Marines |publisher = CNN |access-date = 29 July 2017 |url = http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/05/politics/women-infantry-marines-join-unit/index.html |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170729132252/http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/05/politics/women-infantry-marines-join-unit/index.html |archive-date = 29 July 2017 |url-status=live |df = dmy-all}}</ref> In 2017, the Marines released a recruitment advertisement that focused on women for the first time.<ref>{{cite news |title = Marines Release First-Ever Ad Spotlighting Woman in Combat Position |newspaper = NPR |date = 12 May 2017 |access-date = 29 July 2017 |url = https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/05/12/528129573/marines-release-first-ever-ad-spotlighting-woman-in-combat-position |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170729093716/http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/05/12/528129573/marines-release-first-ever-ad-spotlighting-woman-in-combat-position |archive-date = 29 July 2017 |url-status=live |df = dmy-all|last1 = Domonoske |first1 = Camila }}</ref> {{As of|2019|October}}, female Marines make up 7.8% of the personnel.{{Citation needed|date=March 2021}}

In December 2020, the Marine Corps began a trial program to have females integrated into the training companies at their [[Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego|recruit depot in San Diego]] as Congress has mandated an end to the male-only program there. For the 60 female recruits, scheduled to begin training in San Diego in February 2021, the Corps will transfer female drill instructors from their [[Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island|recruit depot in Parris Island]], which already has a [[Mixed-sex education|coed]] program.<ref name=femalenow>{{cite news|url=https://www.military.com/daily-news/2020/12/14/female-recruits-train-marines-all-male-san-diego-boot-camp-historic-first.html|title=Female Recruits to Train at Marines' All-Male San Diego Boot Camp in Historic First|first=Gina|last=Harkins|publisher=Military.com|date=14 December 2020|access-date=14 December 2020|archive-date=14 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201214224438/https://www.military.com/daily-news/2020/12/14/female-recruits-train-marines-all-male-san-diego-boot-camp-historic-first.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Fifty-three of these recruits successfully graduated from boot camp in April 2021 and became marines.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.military.com/daily-news/2021/04/22/53-women-officially-become-marines-formerly-all-male-boot-camp.html|title=53 Women Officially Become Marines at Formerly All-Male Boot Camp|first=Gina|last=Harkins|publisher=Military.com|date=23 April 2021|access-date=3 May 2021|archive-date=3 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210503231156/https://www.military.com/daily-news/2021/04/22/53-women-officially-become-marines-formerly-all-male-boot-camp.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.upi.com/Defense-News/2021/04/23/Marines-femal-e-bootcamp-SanDiego/7321619196164/|title=First female recruits complete San Diego Marine boot camp|first=Ed|last=Adamczyk|publisher=UPI|date=23 April 2021|access-date=3 May 2021|archive-date=3 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210503230403/https://www.upi.com/Defense-News/2021/04/23/Marines-femal-e-bootcamp-SanDiego/7321619196164/|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Minorities===
{{main|Desegregation in the United States Marine Corps|Hispanics in the United States Marine Corps}}
[[File:Howard P. Perry, the first African-American US Marine Corps recruit.tiff|thumb|Howard P. Perry, the first black recruit in the U.S. Marine Corps, 1942.]]
In 1776 and 1777, a dozen [[African American]] marines served in the [[American Revolutionary War]], but from 1798 to 1942, the Marine Corps followed a racially discriminatory policy of denying African Americans the opportunity to serve.<ref name="ShawDonnelly">{{cite web |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pAaMOuliPT4C|title=Blacks in the Marine Corps |last1=Shaw |first1=Henry I. Jr. |last2=Donnelly |first2=Ralph W. |publisher=History and Museums Division, Headquarters USMC |location=Washington, DC |year=1975|accessdate=19 May 2022}}</ref> The Marine Corps was the last of the services to recruit African Americans, and its own history page acknowledges that it was a presidential order that "forced the Corps, despite objections from its leadership, to begin recruiting African American Marines in 1942.<ref>Military.com [https://www.military.com/daily-news/2022/08/03/marines-will-finally-have-their-first-black-four-star-general.html "Marines Will Finally Have Their First Black Four-Star General]", 3 August 2022</ref> It accepted them as recruits into segregated all-black units.{{r|ShawDonnelly}} For the next few decades, the incorporation of black troops was not widely accepted within the Corps, nor was [[Desegregation in the United States|desegregation]] smoothly or quickly achieved. The integration of non-white Marine Corps personnel proceeded in stages from segregated battalions in 1942, to unified training in 1949, and finally full integration in 1960.<ref>{{cite journal |journal=Ebony |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7qA975ldsm4C&pg=PA58 |pages=55–58 |last=Morris |first=Steven |title=How Blacks Upset The Marine Corps: 'New Breed' Leathernecks are Tackling Racist Vestiges |date=December 1969 |volume=25 |number=2 |issn=0012-9011 |publisher=Johnson Publishing Company}}</ref>

Today the Marine Corps is a desegregated force, made up of marines of all races working and fighting alongside each other. As of 2020, African Americans are currently underrepresented in the Marine Corps as compared to their overall percentage of the U.S. population. Concurrently, the Marine Corps is the only service where Hispanics are overrepresented per the same metric.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/demographics-us-military |title=Demographics of the U.S. Military |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=13 July 2020 |website=cfr.org |publisher=Council on Foreign Relations |access-date=19 May 2022 |quote=}}</ref>

===Rank structure===
{{main|United States Marine Corps rank insignia}}

As in the rest of the United States Armed Forces (excluding the Air Force and Space Force, which do not currently appoint warrant officers), Marine Corps [[military rank|ranks]] fall into one of three categories: [[officer (armed forces)|commissioned officer]], [[Warrant officer (United States)|warrant officer]], and enlisted, in decreasing order of authority. To standardize compensation, each rank is assigned a [[pay grade]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.defenselink.mil/specials/insignias/ |title=DoD Defense Insignia |access-date=28 August 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060831150912/http://www.defenselink.mil/specials/insignias/ |archive-date=31 August 2006 |url-status=live}}</ref>

====Commissioned officers====
Commissioned officers are distinguished from other officers by their [[Commission (document)|commission]], which is the formal written authority, issued in the name of the President of the United States, that confers the rank and authority of a Marine officer. Commissioned officers carry the "special trust and confidence" of the President of the United States.<ref name="Estes"/> Marine Corps commissioned officers are promoted based on an "[[up or out]]" system in accordance with the [[Defense Officer Personnel Management Act]] of 1980.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Shane III|first=Leo|date=25 July 2018|title=Congress is giving the officer promotion system a massive overhaul|url=https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2018/07/25/how-officers-are-promoted-will-get-its-biggest-overhaul-in-decades-heres-what-that-means-for-the-military/|access-date=31 October 2021|website=Military Times|language=en}}</ref>
{{USMC Officer}}

====Warrant officers====
{{See also|Warrant officer (United States)}}
Warrant officers are primarily formerly enlisted experts in a specific specialized field and provide leadership generally only within that speciality.
{{USMC Warrant Officer}}

====Enlisted====
Enlisted marines in the pay grades E-1 to E-3 make up the bulk of the Corps's ranks. Although they do not technically hold leadership ranks, the Corps's ethos stresses leadership among all marines, and junior marines are often assigned responsibilities normally reserved for superiors. Those in the pay grades of E-4 and E-5 are non-commissioned officers (NCOs).<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Marine Corps Ranks|url=http://www.marines.mil/Marines/Ranks.aspx|access-date=|website=|archive-date=18 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171118172620/http://www.marines.mil/Marines/Ranks.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref> They primarily supervise junior Marines and act as a vital link with the higher command structure, ensuring that orders are carried out correctly. Marines E-6 and higher are staff non-commissioned officers (SNCOs), charged with supervising NCOs and acting as enlisted advisers to the command.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Bajza|first=Stephen|title=Enlisted Marine Corps Ranks|url=https://www.military.com/marine-corps/enlisted-ranks.html|access-date=8 July 2021|website=Military.com|archive-date=9 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709185615/https://www.military.com/marine-corps/enlisted-ranks.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

The E-8 and E-9 levels have two and three ranks per pay grade, respectively, each with different responsibilities. The first sergeant and sergeant major ranks are command-oriented, serving as the senior enlisted marines in a unit, charged to assist the commanding officer in matters of discipline, administration, and the morale and welfare of the unit. Master sergeants and master gunnery sergeants provide technical leadership as occupational specialists in their specific MOS. The [[Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps]] is a billet conferred on the senior enlisted marine of the entire Marine Corps, personally selected by the commandant, and is given a special pay grade above E-9. It is possible for an enlisted marine to hold a position senior to Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps which was the case from 2011 to 2015 with the appointment of Sergeant Major [[Bryan B. Battaglia]] to the billet of [[Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chairman]], who is the most senior enlisted member of the United States military, serving in the Joint Chiefs of Staff.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Joint Chiefs of Staff > About > The Joint Staff > Senior Enlisted Advisor|url=https://www.jcs.mil/About/The-Joint-Staff/Senior-Enlisted-Advisor/|access-date=8 July 2021|website=www.jcs.mil|archive-date=12 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210812023849/https://www.jcs.mil/About/The-Joint-Staff/Senior-Enlisted-Advisor/|url-status=live}}</ref>
{{USMC Enlisted}}

===Military Occupational Specialty===
{{main|Military Occupational Specialty|List of United States Marine Corps MOS}}

The Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) is a system of job classification. Using a four digit code, it designates what field and specific occupation a Marine performs. Segregated between officer and enlisted, the MOS determines the staffing of a unit. Some MOSs change with rank to reflect supervisory positions; others are secondary and represent a temporary assignment outside of a Marine's normal duties or special skill.{{Citation needed|date=March 2021}}

===Initial training===
{{main|United States Marine Corps Recruit Training|Officer Candidates School (United States Marine Corps)}}
[[File:Marine recruits.jpg|thumb|Marine recruits at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego]]
Every year, over 2,000 new Marine officers are commissioned, and 38,000 recruits are accepted and trained.<ref name="ChenowethNihart"/> All new marines, enlisted or officer, are [[military recruitment|recruited]] by the [[Marine Corps Recruiting Command]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Marine: a guided tour of a Marine expeditionary unit|first=Tom|last=Clancy|author-link=Tom Clancy|page=[https://archive.org/details/marineguidedtour00clan/page/46 46]|publisher=Penguin|year=1996|isbn=978-0-425-15454-0|url=https://archive.org/details/marineguidedtour00clan/page/46}}</ref> 

Commissioned officers are commissioned mainly through one of three sources: [[Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps]], [[Officer Candidates School (United States Marine Corps)|Officer Candidates School]], or the [[United States Naval Academy]]. Following commissioning, all Marine commissioned officers, regardless of accession route or further training requirements, attend [[The Basic School]] at Marine Corps Base Quantico. At The Basic School, second lieutenants, warrant officers, and selected foreign officers learn the art of infantry and [[combined arms]] warfare.<ref name="Estes" />

Enlisted marines attend [[United States Marine Corps Recruit Training|recruit training]], known as ''boot camp'', at either Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego or Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island. Historically, the [[Mississippi River]] served as a dividing line that delineated who would be trained where, while more recently, a [[Marine Corps Recruiting Command#Structure|district system]] has ensured a more even distribution of male recruits between the two facilities. All recruits must pass a fitness test to start training; those who fail will receive individualized attention and training until the minimum standards are reached.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Marine Corps Initial Strength Test - MarinesBootCampHQ.com|url=https://www.marinesbootcamphq.com/marine-corps-initial-strength-test/|access-date=22 November 2021|language=en-US}}</ref> Marine recruit training is the longest among the American military services; it is 13 weeks long including processing and out-processing.<ref>{{cite book |title=Recruit Medicine: Textbooks of Military Medicine |editor= Bernard L. DeKoning |page=33 |publisher=Government Printing Office|year=2006 |isbn=978-0-16-076718-0}}</ref>

Following recruit training, enlisted marines then attend [[United States Marine Corps School of Infantry|The School of Infantry]] at [[Camp Geiger]] or [[Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton|Camp Pendleton]]. Infantry marines begin their combat training, which varies in length, immediately with the Infantry Training Battalion. Marines in all other MOSs train for 29 days in Marine Combat Training, learning common infantry skills, before continuing on to their MOS schools, which vary in length.<ref>{{cite book|title= Making the Corps: 10th Anniversary Edition with a New Afterword by the Author |first= Thomas E. |last= Ricks |author-link= Thomas E. Ricks (journalist) |page=239 |edition=10 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-4165-4450-0}}</ref>